University expands online presence with Facebook page, Twitter

Princeton University is 991 times less popular than Michael Jackson, 340 times less popular than Skittles and 767 times less popular than Mafia Wars — at least on Facebook.

The creation of the University’s Facebook page — in addition to accounts on Twitter, YouTube and iTunes — reflects efforts by the communications office to increase Princeton’s online presence via social media.

“It is important to use every available communication tool to promote, support and protect the University’s outstanding reputation,” Assistant Vice President of Communications Lauren Robinson-Brown ’85 said. “In 2010, we are making Princeton’s social media sites more interactive by answering questions, posting items such as photo essays and more videos, actively promoting campus and athletic events and otherwise diversifying the content.”

Brown cited the University’s 11,000 Facebook fans as evidence of “tremendous growth in the fan base” online.

Though Robinson-Brown noted that the University has had an online presence for decades, she said its place in social media was only firmly established after Facebook opened to institutions. The University now shares news stories globally via more than 150 social media outlets.

Current and potential students are the target audience, Robinson-Brown said, but the University also hopes to reach “everyone in the current Princeton community — alumni, donors, the media, employers and funders.”

Directing the University’s online growth has not been trivial.

“The greatest challenge is in determining which social media sites to engage in and where to establish a sincere presence,” Social Media Coordinator Missy Gillespie said, adding that social media sites require both monitoring and active participation. Gillespie was hired to fill this new role in November 2009.

Further, the University has learned the same lesson as countless other institutions — it is impossible to control an image online.

“There are many sites where others establish a ‘Princeton’ presence that we can’t control,” Robinson-Brown explained, noting that some sites “highlight criticism of and misinformation about Princeton and other universities.”

The University also has to navigate legal issues such as copyright law.

In the process of claiming URLs, the University actually found that some were already taken.

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“Because Princeton University is so beloved, many of our alumni and current students decided to grab the Princeton name on new social media sites to protect it from others,” Robinson-Brown said, adding that “most of these community members informed us that they had taken such steps and asked us if we wanted to officially take over the sites.”

The University’s Facebook page, for instance, was previously operated by a current student. Though it was difficult for the University to track down the owner, Robinson-Brown said, the student willingly passed along the page once contacted.

In addition to bringing on Gillespie, the Office of Communications has turned to students and faculty for ways to better use social media.

“We plan to continue to grow our sites with a targeted approach that puts most of our resources into the most-used sites, such as the current enthusiasm over Facebook,” Robinson-Brown said.

The office will “follow the conversation wherever it may lead us,” Gillespie said, adding that one of the goals of the communications office is to stay on the cutting edge of social media.

“This is the way that people are communicating today,” Gillespie said, so the University can “join the conversation, guiding it and providing accurate information, or we can allow others to shape it while we stand on the sidelines.”